After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World novel Chapter 294

Aberdeen City, many years prior

Garan looked at his Althea excitedly buying her camping gear. She looked almost as excited as when she entered her first seed store many years ago.

She had just entered college years earlier than her peers and he still felt she wasn’t ready to go on this excursion.

This was the first time she’d ever be so far from him and the family. When he was gone, he at least knew the family was there and she was safe. What was this now?

However, Garan knew he wouldn’t be able to stop her. Mostly, he couldn’t bear break her heart by stopping her from doing what she loved simply because he felt uncomfortable.

"What about this? You may think that you know more than others because you were often in the forests when we were in the orphanage, but I’m telling you now that there are many more dangers in forests than you think—especially the one you’re going to."

The orphanage was located in one of the few green cities, Aberdeen City, but there was no way they would be able to occupy such prime real estate (as all areas near forests and greeneries were). So the young Althea always had to walk kilometers to get to the forests every day and forage.

He couldn’t help but remember that time she got kidnapped with Ansel. He felt his heart beating so loudly in nervousness that it felt like it was escaping his rib cage.

In any case, despite her ’experience’ in going to forests, it was not enough for him to feel reassured.

The forest was too near the city, it wasn’t very big and was actually relatively urbanized. This meant that wildlife wasn’t as dangerous as it could be.

This was very different from the place she was heading towards. They’ll be heading to a legitimate jungle jointly protected by the three countries that abutted it.

She looked at him, her large emerald eyes staring, and he could only heave a sigh of defeat. "I will take you camping this weekend and I will teach you all that you need to know."

"WOW! Thank you, Garan!" She yelled embracing him. He flushed but managed to gather himself and smiled as he felt her warmth, patting her head.

His eyes heated up a bit but he knew she was too young. He dared not move forward right now. Instead, he could only serve as her big brother, guarding her in any way he could.

He separated the two of them and he held her shoulders so they could meet eye to eye.

"Preparation is key to minimizing losses. Whether it is resources, time, or… life.

"No matter what: You must always prepare well."

___________________

Altera Village, Present

[3 days of Protection Period]

After days of work, it was finally the morning of the upgrade.

All she had to do was wait for the notification to be triggered, which would likely be exactly 3 days since the new citizens from Bright and Vismont people officially settled in the territory.

After all, the population count was apparently counting the same group of people, not just visitors that passed by. This was fine, as it gave them more time to prepare.

Instead of waiting for another hour or two, however, she decided to summon the NPCs in the lounge again, for some final ironing out of the details.

"My Lord," They said, nodding as she went to her seat.

"We will be upgrading soon," she told them, tone a bit heavy. "Tell me if there are still major problems and I will defer it." The last time, she was allowed to defer for 100 hours, it was likely to be the same this time.